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I'm in somewhat of a rough spot. I started my undergraduate career at a top 50 university. However, I ended up leaving about four years later. I had a lot of difficulty doing well, in spite of taking some time off beforehand. I was clinically depressed for a while, among other things. I left with about 90 credits, and a 2.0 GPA. I have a few Fs (mostly incomplete fails) and Ws on that transcript. I took a semester at community college, and managed with a 3.75. I ended up transferring to Rutgers, and I'm currently in my last semester before graduation. So in total, I spent two additional years trying to complete my degree. Including my time at community college, I've accumulated about 90 credits with an overall GPA of something like a 3.78. I'm double majoring in philosophy and computer science. How will graduate schools view my GPA? As of right now, I'm interested in either getting an MBA, pursuing a master's degree in engineering, or of course law school.

[quote="Zigor"]I'm in somewhat of a rough spot. I started my undergraduate career at a top 50 university. However, I ended up leaving about four years later. I had a lot of difficulty doing well, in spite of taking some time off beforehand. I was clinically depressed for a while, among other things. I left with about 90 credits, and a 2.0 GPA. I have a few Fs (mostly incomplete fails) and Ws on that transcript. I took a semester at community college, and managed with a 3.75. I ended up transferring to Rutgers, and I'm currently in my last semester before graduation. So in total, I spent two additional years trying to complete my degree. Including my time at community college, I've accumulated about 90 credits with an overall GPA of something like a 3.78. I'm double majoring in philosophy and computer science. How will graduate schools view my GPA? As of right now, I'm interested in either getting an MBA or pursuing a master's degree in engineering.[/quote]

You realize this is a law school forum?

On the LSAC report, the 2.0 will come back to bite you in the a$$ because they are going to factor it in. You might have a chance if you can pull together a compelling PS or GPA addendum. I don't think it is going to matter how long it took you to complete your degree. The bottom line is the cum. UGPA.

Yeah, I forgot to mention law school as an option, haha. I will edit.

Sounds like my chances of getting into a good school would be a lot better with the other two options.

Zigor wrote:I'm in somewhat of a rough spot. I started my undergraduate career at a top 50 university. However, I ended up leaving about four years later. I had a lot of difficulty doing well, in spite of taking some time off beforehand. I was clinically depressed for a while, among other things. I left with about 90 credits, and a 2.0 GPA. I have a few Fs (mostly incomplete fails) and Ws on that transcript. I took a semester at community college, and managed with a 3.75. I ended up transferring to Rutgers, and I'm currently in my last semester before graduation. So in total, I spent two additional years trying to complete my degree. Including my time at community college, I've accumulated about 90 credits with an overall GPA of something like a 3.78. I'm double majoring in philosophy and computer science. How will graduate schools view my GPA? As of right now, I'm interested in either getting an MBA or pursuing a master's degree in engineering.

+1 to the "this is a law school forum".

I'm a little confused. So have 4 years of work (90 credits it sounds like) from your original institution with a 2.0 cumulative GPA, and another 90 credits from your new institutions (rutgers/community colleges) with a 3.75 (in the following two years)? So your overall for all 6 years is like a 2.9? Is that correct? If so, then adcoms will view your GPA as a 2.9.

That being said, though, I just completed my master's in engineering. I doubt the schools will care about how long it took you to complete your degree. They will care more about ~overall GPA (all 6 years combined)~ and an upward grade trend, which it seems like you have. Getting into a decent M. Sc. in engineering (top 100) shouldn't be a problem with an above 3.0 GPA, regardless of how long it took (as long as you do well on the GREs). Maybe go back and retake some of the classes you originally did poorly in if the school will replace the grade on your transcripts?

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edit: And yes, getting into a top 60 law school with below a 3.0 GPA is nearly impossible if you're not a URM. So, I'd shoot for masters in engineering (they kind of expect us to have bad GPAs) or MBA (I don't know much about admissions for this, but unfortunately I'd assume GPA counts for a lot here too).
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edit #2: You may try going out and working for a few years to distance yourself from your grades.
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I am a URM (Puerto Rican). I know that this is just an assumption, and that it doesn't really mean anything, but assuming I get a stellar LSAT score (170+), what does this do for my chances?

Just wanted to note that I was able to get that many credits in two years by taking full semesters during the summer, in case your wondering.

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I always assume I'm getting a stellar score.

Zigor wrote:Sounds like my chances of getting into a good school would be a lot better with the other two options.

If you have a CS GPA of ~3.7 from Rutgers, you should get into a far better MS program (maybe top 25) than law school. MBA would be useless since you have zero work experience right now.

icydash wrote: edit: And yes, getting into a top 60 law school with below a 3.0 GPA is nearly impossible if you're not a URM. So, I'd shoot for masters in engineering (they kind of expect us to have bad GPAs) or MBA (I don't know much about admissions for this, but unfortunately I'd assume GPA counts for a lot here too).

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Really? Scan the boards a little and you will find that a high LSAT will definitely get you into T60. People have gotten T14 with a 170+ and sub 3.0.

I think the doomsayers on this thread are exaggerating a bit (no chance at T60? WTF?).

It will come down to your LSAT. If you can score 170+, and that's a big "IF", you have a shot. I plugged a 170 and 2.9 into lawschool predictor, and got a "CONSIDER" at George Washington, which is #3 in IP law and #28 overall (as well as at WUSTL and BU, #19 and #20 respectively). You have plenty of material for an effective GPA addendum. Write one, and a good targetted personal statement detailing your specific interest in law, and you will get in somewhere. Add URM status and you might even sneak it into a lower T14. All of it hinges on the LSAT score.